There were some good things, and there were some bad things the Chargers did on Sunday for fantasy owners. The most notable: Philip Rivers threw for 378 yards, Vincent Jackson caught 10 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns, and Mike Tolbert and Ryan Mathews had 15 receptions between the two of them for 135 yards.

On the other end, Rivers threw two interceptions and fumbled, Tolbert coughed up the ball on a feeble attempt to break outside, Antonio Gates didn’t catch a single pass, and the defense was basically torched.

Overall, fantasy owners shouldn’t be worried about the offense and the turnovers. As we know, Rivers and the Chargers haven’t played well in September. The sixth-year starter has a career-high 21 interceptions and a career-low 91.9 passer rating in the first month of the season. The good news is the next two games are at home against teams that are struggling, and even (perhaps especially) if the Chargers get down early again, you can count on Rivers to continue putting up good fantasy numbers.

Vincent Jackson blew up as expected. For the second straight week, the Patriots allowed a No.1 wide out to have a monster game. If it weren’t for the first-half muscle strain, Malcom Floyd probably would have had monster numbers as well. Stay tuned for an update on Floyd, head coach Norv Turner indicated that’d he could miss time in practice this week and potentially the game Sunday.

The most puzzling thing to take away from this game was the big-fat- zero Gates put up in your fantasy team’s box score. It was the first time since 2008 that Gates played but didn’t catch a single pass. Is it something you should be worried about? No, don’t forget the week before when Gates was targeted a team-high 13 times. New England did an excellent job covering him by stacking at least two players on him for the majority of the game. As a result, the offensive production shifted elsewhere.

One thing to remember about Rivers is that he doesn’t need to find a player like Gates every game. He’d like to, but Rivers is adept at spreading the ball around, and this team has talented targets. You may not see the consistent production from all of the main Charger fantasy players you’ve been accustomed to. Remember, this is the first year that Gates, Jackson, Floyd (possibly), Mathews, and Tolbert have all been on the field together at the same time for the start of the season. If Floyd does miss some time, then the value of Gates and Jackson increases.

The defense was atrocious. Outside of the two sacks, they didn’t do anything from a fantasy standpoint. The unit’s inexperience together was evident against New England. The good thing is, they showed signs of improvement in the second half and, as I said, the next two games are at home against weaker offenses. Look for the Chargers defense to improve in the next few weeks before the bye. This will be the time for them to build on last year’s success with the new personnel. If they don’t, you may want to consider other options with away games following the bye week against the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, and a home game against the defending Super Bowl champs.

In his first game back in the NFL, new kicker Nick Novak wasn’t given the opportunity to show fantasy owners that he can be an able replacement on your kicker’s bye week. Wait on picking him up off the waiver wire until he proves he can be a successful kicker at this level.